I refer to the letter by Mr Mah Bow Tan, “Upgrading is a unique programme by Govt”. 17 June 2006.
I would have fully agreed with the reply from Mr Mah had he signed off as Minister for PAP Constituency Development, instead of Minister for National Development.
Mr Mah was right to say, “No other Government in the world has anything similar, in terms of scale and commitment”. Indeed we are thankful to our Government when we compare the conditions of our public housing with those in neighbouring countries. However, we also understand that other governments will never allow its public housing programme to be used as a prize or penalty when garnering the support of the people. They know that this kind of discrimination will generate resentment, riot and even revolt in their country.
“It is funded out of budget surpluses generated by the PAP Government”, said Mr Mah. What then is not funded by budget surpluses generated by the PAP Government, who has ruled for more than 40 years? There must be a better way to retain the faith of the people.
It insults the intelligence of Singaporeans if we believe that they will vote for the ruling party because they want their house to be upgraded. The people of Hougang and Potong Pasir has had demonstrated that they believe a beautifully spruced up precinct is but a camouflage when compared to the daily high cost of living. They hope an MP from another party can help change things for the better. And I think this sentiment is shared by many Singaporeans.
From a National Development point of view, a run down dilapidated housing estate is bad for the image of Singapore as a whole, physically and politically. While we would not want to compare the sacrosanct General Election to a game like the World Cup match, we believe every right minded person would nonetheless want to see good refereeing and fair play. HDB should be shown the red card for using the Upgrading Programme to benefit any political party.
